Chapter 228: Back To That Key Moment ⑥

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Chapter 228: Back To That Key Moment ⑥

“Brother Hua Cheng, I told you earlier that you’d taken the wrong path, but you refused to believe me.” Ding Qiyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and complained helplessly.

Hua Cheng smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I was trying to take a shortcut so we could reach the city sooner, but instead…”

The two had just survived a battle and had nearly exhausted all the spiritual qi in their bodies. They urgently needed to reach a city and recuperate, only to lose their way halfway there. If their spiritual power had been intact, they could simply have flown on their swords or used their spiritual senses to find the route. Unfortunately, both were badly injured and would not recover anytime soon—and now they were lost on top of everything else.

Just as the two were lamenting their terrible luck, the faint, clear tinkling of wind chimes drifted from somewhere nearby.

“Hm? Could someone actually live out here?” Ding Qiyu looked at Hua Cheng in puzzlement.

Hua Cheng scratched his head and muttered, “I don’t know either. Let’s go take a look.”

The two followed the sound of the wind chimes and slowly made their way toward it.

Beyond a grove of emerald bamboo, an elegant bamboo house came into view. A string of wind chimes hung outside, swaying gently in the breeze and producing a clear, musical tinkling. Beside the entrance stood a banner bearing four characters: Leisure Teahouse. Several stone tables and stools were arranged around the courtyard, each set with its own tea service. A spring burbled nearby while flower petals drifted through the air, carrying waves of delicate fragrance.

Hua Cheng and Ding Qiyu both took deep breaths. Their minds immediately felt refreshed, as though all the exhaustion in their bodies had vanished.

They entered the teahouse and chose a stone table at random. Before either of them could call out, someone had already emerged from the bamboo house to greet them.

It was a handsome, white-haired young man with a warm smile and an otherworldly air that made him instantly likable. He approached with a teapot and poured each of them a cup of hot tea. His long, slender fingers looked as smooth as jade, making even the simple act of pouring tea pleasing to watch.

“Guests from afar, please have some tea.” Shang Ke was extremely welcoming toward the first customers to appear in more than half a month.

Their attention was quickly drawn to the tea before them. Slender leaves floated upright in the jade-white cups. The liquid was crystal clear, steam curled above the surface, and a clean fragrance filled the air.

Hua Cheng lifted his cup and first inhaled the aroma before taking a small sip. At once, he felt his qi loosen and flow, as though a warm current had spread through his abdomen.

“Good tea,” Hua Cheng praised. Then, as though that was not enough, he emphasized, “Really good tea!”

Ding Qiyu also looked approving after tasting it. A moment later, however, surprise flashed through his eyes. Perhaps it was only his imagination, but the stagnant spiritual qi inside him seemed to be gathering and circulating again, while much of his fatigue had faded.

He looked at the clear tea in his hand, then at the young man beside the table, his expression turning thoughtful.

Hua Cheng, on the other hand, was carefree and paid no attention to such details. “Young proprietor, does your teahouse serve anything to eat?”

“Today’s dishes are written on the wooden plaques.” Shang Ke gestured toward the other side.

The two looked over and saw a wooden post standing nearby with two rows of plaques hanging from it. A single plaque on the left read “Mistshadow Tea.” Five plaques on the right listed “Bamboo-Tube Rice,” “Matsutake Soup,” “Braised Bamboo Shoots,” “Wild Greens with Egg,” and “Bayberry Wine.” Every dish was priced at one tael.

“One tael? Isn’t that a little expensive?” Hua Cheng secretly sucked in a breath.

“Worth every coin.” Shang Ke smiled brightly.

“As though you’re short of a single tael.” Ding Qiyu shot Hua Cheng a sidelong glance, then told Shang Ke, “Bring us one of everything.”

“Certainly. Please wait a moment.” Shang Ke went off cheerfully.

He moved quickly, and before long every dish had been served.

Hua Cheng and Ding Qiyu began eating. At first Hua Cheng still tossed out compliments every few bites, but halfway through the meal he gradually fell silent. In the end, just like Ding Qiyu, he concentrated entirely on savoring the food.

After the meal, Hua Cheng seemed about to call Shang Ke over, but Ding Qiyu stopped him. He left the silver on the table and pulled Hua Cheng away from the teahouse.

“Well?” Hua Cheng could not resist asking once they had walked some distance.

“My spiritual power has recovered by thirty percent.” Ding Qiyu’s eyes gleamed.

“Hahaha! Who would have thought a teahouse like this was hidden deep in the mountains? This trip was worth it after all.” Hua Cheng sounded delighted. “Why did you stop me just now? It’s rare to meet a hidden expert. Why not make friends with him while we have the chance?”

“If he chose to open his teahouse in the mountains, he clearly doesn’t want outsiders disturbing him. We can come back a few more times. Familiarity will come naturally. There’s no need to rush.”

Hua Cheng nodded. “You really do think things through better than I do.”

One cup of clear tea and one meal of mountain delicacies had successfully earned Shang Ke two regular customers.

Shang Ke took the plaques down from the post and replaced them with new dishes.

“Everything today was vegetarian. I should add one meat dish tomorrow.” After considering it for a moment, Shang Ke wrote “Chicken and Mushroom Stew” on a plaque and hung it up.

He looked away for only an instant, yet when he turned back, the plaque had disappeared. Shang Ke glanced beside him and found it clutched in Yan Lu’s hand. Assuming he was merely curious, Shang Ke paid it no mind and wrote another identical plaque.

The next instant, Yan Lu took that one down too.

“What’s wrong?” Shang Ke looked at him in confusion.

Yan Lu raised the plaque angrily. “Mushrooms are mine! Not for sale!”

Shang Ke: “Then… Chicken and Mountain Shroom Stew?”

Yan Lu was satisfied. As long as it was not called “mushroom,” everything was fine.

Shang Ke: Hehe.

That evening, Shang Ke pulled Yan Lu into their homemade bath and soaked with him while working through recipes for medicinal cuisine and herbal baths. His current strength was nowhere near enough to raise Yan Lu’s cultivation, but he should at least be able to use medicinal treatments to nurse Yan Lu’s injured spirit back to health.

While Shang Ke was lost in thought, Yan Lu suddenly leaned over and pressed his entire body against Shang Ke’s back, resting his chin on his shoulder.

Yan Lu’s scorching presence wrapped around him and left Shang Ke feeling slightly dizzy.

“Stop fooling around. I’m busy.” Shang Ke nudged the man behind him with an elbow.

Yan Lu did not budge. He continued nosing around Shang Ke’s neck while his body gradually developed a very obvious instinctive reaction.

Shang Ke glanced back at him and said regretfully, “Sorry, not yet. Once my cultivation improves, we can dual cultivate again.”

“Dual cultivation?” Yan Lu did not really understand what it meant, but it sounded like something good, and he was certain he would like it. “Then let’s dual cultivate.”

“I already said we can’t.” Shang Ke struggled valiantly against temptation.

“Why?” Yan Lu looked at him with the innocent expression of someone sincerely seeking an explanation.

How exactly was he supposed to explain dual cultivation to a man with the intelligence of a five-year-old?

In the end, Shang Ke resorted to the universal answer recognized throughout history and across every land. In a grave, earnest voice, he said, “You’ll understand when you grow up.”

Yan Lu: “…” For some reason, he felt as though his intelligence had just taken ten thousand points of mockery damage…

“You’ve soaked long enough. Go dry yourself off and get ready for bed,” Shang Ke urged.

Yan Lu reluctantly let him go, slowly climbed out of the bath, picked up a towel from the wooden rack, and began drying himself. When he casually glanced back, he discovered that Shang Ke—who had been in the bath only a moment ago—was gone!

“Little Mushroom!” Yan Lu stared at the pool with wide eyes. A white mushroom bobbed through the mist-covered water, rolled its way to the edge, rubbed against the side of the pool until it inched onto dry ground, then bounced over to the flowerpot on the bedside table and planted itself firmly in the soil.

Yan Lu hurried over with heavy footsteps and stood in front of the bedside table, staring at him.

Shang Ke tilted his mushroom cap upward and immediately found an enormous object standing directly overhead like a pillar supporting the heavens. He was thoroughly accustomed to seeing a certain someone naked, but this was the first time he had ever looked up at it from this body, this angle, and such an overwhelmingly oppressive perspective.

“…Either put some clothes on for me, or get into bed,” Shang Ke warned irritably.

“Oh.” Yan Lu looked left and right, found a handkerchief, and carefully wrapped it around Little Mushroom’s body.

Shang Ke froze for two seconds before understanding. Speechless, he snapped, “I meant put your clothes on, not dress me!”

Yan Lu looked deeply wronged. But Little Mushroom had clearly just said, “put some clothes on for me”…

Shang Ke shook the handkerchief off himself and ordered, “Forget the clothes. Get into bed, pull up the blanket, and sleep!”

Yan Lu obediently climbed into bed and covered himself with the blanket.

The candle went out, plunging the room into darkness. Only the starlight outside the window spilled quietly across the floor.

“Good night, Yan Lu.”

“Good night, Little Mushroom.”

Deep in the mountains, the passing of days was easy to forget. Shang Ke and Yan Lu lived a quiet, comfortable life. After the teahouse welcomed its first customers, new visitors appeared every two or three days. There were never many, but they brought a pleasant trace of liveliness to the otherwise tranquil place.

As word spread, Shang Ke’s Leisure Teahouse gradually became a favored place for nearby cultivators to drink tea and chat in their spare time. The clear teas he brewed and the food he prepared could not directly increase cultivation, but they could calm the mind, replenish spiritual power, treat internal injuries, and even suppress inner demons to a certain degree. Combined with their excellent appearance, aroma, and flavor, they unsurprisingly became extremely popular.

Shang Ke had not opened the teahouse to serve the public, however. He had merely wanted something enjoyable to do with his days. High-quality ingredients were difficult to obtain and could not be supplied without limit, so he set up a formation around the teahouse and opened it only three to five times each month. The teahouse accepted customers only while the formation was open.

“Little Mushroom!” Yan Lu burst out of the woods and shouted indignantly, “I caught a thief!”

You caught a thief? Shang Ke turned in surprise, eager to see what unfortunate soul had fallen into this demon’s hands. What Yan Lu carried back, however, was not a person at all, but a… rabbit?

The rabbit bared its teeth ferociously, every strand of fur standing on end.

Shang Ke thought it looked familiar. Wasn’t this the same rabbit he had encountered immediately after transforming?

“It was stealing mushrooms from my mushroom garden!” Yan Lu accused indignantly.

“Mm. Truly audacious.” Shang Ke asked leisurely, “So tell me—do you want it braised or steamed?”

“Braised!” Yan Lu answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

The rabbit immediately stopped struggling. Its limbs drooped miserably, and it hung from Yan Lu’s hand like a corpse.

Shang Ke privately thought the little thing seemed to possess some intelligence, so he changed his tune. “If it’s willing to turn over a new leaf, we can spare its life for now.”

The rabbit instantly revived. Its eyes lit up as it kicked its feet excitedly.

Yan Lu released it with obvious reluctance.

Freed from the demon’s grasp, the rabbit immediately bounded to Shang Ke’s legs and rubbed against him ingratiatingly.

Annoyed, Yan Lu kicked it aside and warned, “You’re not allowed to touch this mushroom or those mushrooms!”

The rabbit bared its teeth at him, then turned and vanished into the flowers in the blink of an eye.

That night, a new rabbit burrow appeared in one corner of the courtyard. Apparently, it had decided to settle there. Whether it had stayed for Shang Ke, the human-shaped mushroom, or for the colorful mushrooms Yan Lu had planted throughout the garden was impossible to say…

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